Wingin' It

We did something very out of the ordinary for Andy. We left for

vacation with absolutely NO plans! I can't believe he was able to do that! We knew we were going to Yellowstone, but that was it. NO reservations. NO agenda. NO clue. Just got in the car and left. On our way up, the reservation desk for campgrounds in Yellowstone actually laughed at me when I called. We ended up squeaking into a place in Teton N.P. and it was much better than the parks in Yellowstone. It was an amazing camping trip. The kids had endless things to do, and Andy and I hadn't been up there since we were first married. It was breathtaking, and even Max keeps telling us anytime he sees steam of any kind that it's "The hot water!" of a geyser. Although, surprisingily: Total number of buffalo seen=0. Total number of moose=0. Total number of bears=0. We saw two femal elk, but I see more than that just driving to work in the morning.

On a side note, my little man who almost never gets sick, was miserable with sore throat, fever and rash. We still don't know what he had, but he was a trooper and still hiked and tried his hardest to work past his misery. What an awesome kid.

Here we rented a motor boat and went out on Jackson Lake. A wonderful family experience except that we discovered that Zoe is deathly afraid of boats. Hu.

I just love Max's pose in this picture. And Ella's stance. And her outfit. My kids, ladies and gentlemen.

On our way home, we took a ferry across Jenny Lake and hiked to Hidden Falls, a really great hiking trail when you aren't trying to squeeze by 200 other people. But worth it, one of the most gorgeous waterfalls you'll see.

Nibbles, A Life Sketch

The whole purpose for this post is really the video at the end, because it's beauty still makes me cry. Ever since I was in kindergarten, every time I walk by a milkweed plant I look for caterpillars. I have NEVER seen one, but I still look. Well, we were hiking up at Wasatch State Park when we passed a patch, and I scanned for caterpillars quickly, and after not seeing any, I hear Zoe yell, "Mom! A caterpillar!" Sure enough, there he was. And that's how we met our newest pet, Nibbles.

That dang insect was so fun to watch, he grew huge so fast. And it was awesome teaching the kids things about him shedding his skin and the camouflage of his stripes. There was no lid on his bottle and one night he crawled around the rim, stretching up on his hind feet, putting on a show that made the kids laugh hysterically. They prayed for him every night, which was adorable and checked on him first thing in the morning.

One day, I set the jar on the back porch because I figured he needed more light. Well, I was babysitting a bunch of two year olds that day so I got a little distracted and suddenly noticed the jar upside down with all of the milk weed scattered across the porch and no caterpillar in sight. I can't tell you how nervous I was, thinking, "My kids are going to be so sad!" I searched for over an HOUR for that stupid insect, scratching the heck out of my arms going through raspberry bushes, and praying that a bird hadn't come by. I figured he was long gone when I finally found him climbing up a porch chair leg. I'm pretty sure I didn't imagine that he looked excited to see me too.
When we went for an overnight campout, Nibbles took advantage of the peace and quiet to build his little chrysalis. That thing is amazing, and I don't think I've ever even seen one since kindergarten.

There was a weekend when no one was going to be home due to work schedules and school, and those kids prayed so hard, "Please don't let Nibbles hatch till we're home !" Thankfully, he didn't. One morning, his cocoon was nice and black and we grew very excited! I figured we had a day or so left. We went to a park for lunch and once again, in the peace of a quiet house, Nibbles made his move. We came home to this.....

What a beautiful thing. I was just as amazed as all the kids.